Give Them Hex
by missingno and co
Summary: When a new student enters Mr. Badwolf's first period General Villainy class, things get turned upside down. Can a fairytale princess survive the hardest villain class in the school?
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in the land of Ever After…

It was a gloomy, damp morning, and the students had to rush to class to avoid the downpour. The day was especially bad for the students attending Mr. Badwolf's General Villainy class because they had to cross the courtyard to get to the dungeon area, avoid slipping down the narrow steps, and uncomfortably sit in class soaked to the bone. The only comfort they had was that the unusually humid classroom would provide some comfort from the bitter cold. Mr. Badwolf's first period class consisted of quite the unusual band of misfits: Ginger the chef, Raven the not-so-evil evil queen, Duchess the ballerina, Faybelle the bad fairy, Lizzie the red queen, and Sparrow the thief/rocker. For the most part, the students did not get along well and always caused trouble during class, causing Mr. Badwolf to deal out several detentions every class.

Duchess was always eager to get to class early to let her teachers know that she was serious about her studies; unfortunately, her roommate Lizzie, a fan of sleeping in, was always dragged along and was constantly complaining about it.

"I just don't understand why we must leave so early in advance," Lizzie said, yawning.

"If we are the first ones to class everyday, then Mr. Badwolf will think better of us and ultimately help me achieve my goal of becoming the top student of this school," Duchess said matter-of-factly.

"But Mr. Badwolf is _never _here when we get here," Lizzie sighed. "We're always here excessively early and…"

Duchess groaned. "Yeah, well one day Mr. Badwolf _will _be there early, and I _will _get recognition for it. Lizzie, don't you ever think about these things? I mean, you are-" Duchess turned to her side to find that Lizzie was no longer there. "Lizzie?"

The swan princess looked behind her to find her classmate several steps behind on the narrow staircase, looking off into the distance with glassy eyes.

""LIZZIE!" Duchess yelled, clapping her hands loudly. Startled, Lizzie jumped and almost slid down the steps, catching herself in the nick of time.

"WHAT!" Lizzie yelled back, upset on being interrupted.

Duchess rolled her eyes and continued along the path, saying, "C'mon, lets keep moving."

After the long hike down the stairs, the two girls finally reached the classroom and pulled the heavy brass door open to enter. As usual, Mr. Badwolf was not there (much to the disappointment of the girls), but the room was not empty.

"Hello, losers," Faybelle drawled, perched atop the teacher's desk. Duchess stopped short, causing Lizzie to stumble into her.

"Wait- how is this possible!?" Duchess shrieked. "We saw you at the Castleteria on our way here- there's no way you could have gotten here-"

"Hang on, I'm gonna stop you there," Faybelle said. "I just used a transportation spell to get here. No biggie." Faybelle smiled. "I know you and Lizzie like to get here early by leaving in advance, but…" She chuckled, "Look what good _that _has done for you.

Duchess growled, remembering the mad dash through the rain she had taken in swan form that helped her avoid the mud but not the rain. Lizzie, not having swan powers, had to run in the mud, and it would have frazzled her more had she been more awake.

Desperate to draw attention away from the embarrassing circumstance, Duchess decided to change the subject. "What are you doing on Mr. Badwolf's desk!? He's going to be crazy mad if he sees you," Duchess pointedly said.

Faybelle rolled her eyes. "What-ever-after. We all know it's going to be awhile before he comes here. Why don't you and your soaked friend take a seat and leave me alone."

Duchess was about to come up with a really good comeback, so great that it would take that overgrown sprite down a notch, when suddenly…

"Ach!" Lizzie had finally passed out and had fallen onto Duchess, bringing both girls to the floor. Duchess tried to push the girl off of her, but then noticed the mud from Lizzie's shoes staining Duchess' white attire and dropped the red queen. "Nooooo! Lizzie, you are the worst!" Duchess yelled at her still-sleeping friend. Duchess desperately looked at the clock to see if there as enough time to change, but sadly there was not.

Groaning, the swan princess dragged her friend to the stools and sat down with her head on her desk. This day was, simply put, ruffling Duchess' feathers.

A little while later, Raven and Ginger walked into class together, chatting and eating muffins. The girls were soaked from their walk but noticeably happier than the previous pair.

"Well, it's about time the dumb duo showed up," said Faybelle. "I'm surprised you guys bothered to come." Ginger looked as if she was going to retaliate but then stopped short, glumly looking down. Raven noticed this and said, "We have every right to be in this class, and there's nothing you can do to make us leave or feel bad about it." Raven smiled at Ginger, and she smiled back.

"How cute. You're standing up for yourselves," Faybelle sarcastically said.

"At least some of us _try _in this class," Duchess mumbled. "Raven and Ginger don't even find it necessary to act evil."

"Well Duchess, it must be easy for you to be evil when your destiny doesn't require it," Raven shot back.

"Are you calling _me_ evil!?" Duchess exclaimed. The group started to argue, with Ginger and Raven standing up for their right to not follow their destinies while Duchess fired back insults, all while Lizzie occasionally shouted "OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!" in her sleep.

All of the sudden, magic sparked by the group and caused them to stop yelling. "I don't mean to spoil your fun, but Mr. Badwolf's approaching," Faybelle warned. The group immediately straightened up and found their seats, while Faybelle used a spell to quickly get into her stool just as the door to the classroom door swung open.

But instead of a fairytale villain walking through the door, a purple-haired princess waltzed through, the only one who had thought to bring an umbrella. She closed her umbrella and shook the rain off of it, and then peeled off her raincoat before smiling up at the class.

"Who. Is. _That_?"


	2. Chapter 2

Poppy shrugged her designer bag on her shoulder and walked down the halls to get to the dungeon where her class, General Villainy, would take place. She had wanted to walk to her classes with Holly, but the dungeon was far away from the where Holly's class was. Since Poppy didn't have a fairytale, she got to choose her classes, and one of those classes was General Villainy. As she began her long journey to the dungeon level to her class, she wondered what her sister was learning in her classes for fairytale princesses. The day was wet and rainy, but Poppy refused to let that ruin her mood. She was so hexcited for this class that she had gotten up extra early. Poppy even remembered her umbrella for when she had to pass the courtyard in the rain. The stairs were a dangerous way to get to the dungeon because the steps were only big enough for you to place one foot on, and if you slipped there was nothing you could do to stop your fall.

Cobwebs were getting in Poppy's hair, but she had way too many things on her mind to notice those bothersome things. How many stairs did she have to climb down to reach her classroom? What would she learn in class? Would she make a fool of herself? Why had she taken the class? _Because you thought it would be fairy cool to learn spells and see what it was like to be evil,_ she reminded herself. Finally, she had reached her destination and looked at the class.

Poppy had not hexpected everyone in the class to be normal, but this class looked especially formidable. Ginger Breadhouse, daughter of the candy witch;, Faybelle Thorn, daughter of the bad fairy; Duchess Swan, daughter of the swan queen; Lizzie Hearts, daughter of the queen of hearts; and Raven Queen, daughter of the evil queen, were all sitting on stools near the cauldrons. Everyone knew about what a good cook Ginger was because she was often sharing the sweets she made. Faybelle, head cheerleader, is always enthusiastic on how she gets to be the bad fairy in the Sleeping Beauty story. Duchess, known for her elegant dancing, was noticeable upset about something, but Poppy didn't know what. Lizzie was falling asleep on her stool. Raven was sitting in the shadows, all alone. Being the greatest evil there ever was doesn't get you many friends. Poppy cautiously took a seat next to Ginger, who looked like the only person that wouldn't mind, and started looking around for the teacher, Mr. Badwolf.

"Where is Mr. Badwolf?" Poppy asked the silent class.

"He is never on time," Faybelle smirked as if planning to do something evil while Mr. Badwolf is out of the classroom.

Fortunately, Mr. Badwolf came in before Faybelle could do anything. He threw his bag spilling with papers onto his messy desk and took a long, hard look at the class.


	3. Chapter 3

While the students had to use quite some effort to push open the brass door of the classroom, the General Villainy teacher barely put forth any strength to move the door. Mr. Badwolf, the big bad wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, was a tall, frightening wolf-man who had sharp teeth, a loud voice, and an aura of evil around him. All the students were scared of him, but that did not stop them from constantly fooling around in the class.

Mr. Badwolf began his explanation of today's class work. Poppy did her best to focus, but it was hard when most of the table was looking at her, some with glares, and others with just plain confused faces.

The door slowly creaked open. Poppy glanced to the side and saw a red-haired guy sneak into class, carefully closing the door to avoid it banging shut. Mr. Badwolf's back was turned as the guy steadily made his way across the room to the stools, trying his best not to be caught late to class. All the other students were watching his cautious journey with amusement or annoyance. Clearly, this was not the first time this had happened.

Just when the guy thought he was in the clear, Mr. Badwolf said, "So, Mr. Hood, what excuse do you have this time for being late to my class?"

The teenager groaned, while his classmates snickered or rolled their eyes, anticipating his punishment.

"Well, you see…" the guy said, pulling out his guitar. _"I totally woke up late today, and there is definitely too much rain, so I tried to wait it out but it really didn't work out, and as you can see it's been a total pain yeah," _he sang while playing some chords.

"Does this happen often?" Poppy whispered to Ginger.

The baker sighed. "Oh, you bet it does."

"Silence!" Mr. Badwolf yelled. He turned around and snarled at the guitarist.

"DUDE!" the teen yelled back. "Look, I didn't want to get my guitar wet. It took me, like, twenty minutes to, uh, borrow a bag big enough to fit it in."

The teacher was not amused. "And you think _that _is a good enough excuse to come late to class?"

"Hey," the guy said defensively. "I had to get my _hair _wet. Do you even know-"

"ENOUGH!" Mr. Badwolf growled. "Detention after school today."

"Psshhh. Whatever-after," the student mumbled.

Poppy was glad the attention that had been previously focused on her had been shifted to the red-haired rebel. Hopefully, no one would bother her for the rest of class…

"Whoa, who's the newbie?" Sparrow whispered to Poppy, sliding into the only stool left… right next to her. _Great, _she thought. _Just when I needed to blend in, the most attention-grabbing person in the class sits next to me. _

Mr. Badwolf turned around, confused. Apparently, his great big ears _were _all the better for hearing with. "We have a… new student?" the teacher asked, scanning the chairs until he picked out Poppy. "And… I'm sorry, exactly _who _are you supposed to be?"

"My name is Poppy O'Hair," the purple-haired girl nervously replied.

"Stand up when spoken to. I meant to ask who your parents are."

Poppy stood up slowly, noticing the increasingly obvious looks she was receiving from her classmates. "Well, my mom is Rapunzel."

Silence. Poppy felt confused- did they not know her mom's tale? "You know, the one with the long hair…"

"Yes, we all know the story," Mr. Badwolf snapped. "But there is no way in hex that Headmaster Grimm would allow the daughter of Rapunzel to take a class for future villains. You do have a destiny to uphold…"

"Excuse me, Mr. Badwolf? I think you're confused- my twin sister Holly is the one who will be the next Rapunzel. I don't have a legacy- I can basically do whatever I want."

More silence. Recognition reached the face of the teacher, but bitterness still remained. "Ms. O'Hair," Mr. Badwolf growled. "I believe _you _are the only one confused. Your parents were not evil, and your chance to develop evil has been completely shattered due to the fact that you've led a privileged life. Villains come from a background of disappointment, abandonment, and anger. They are feared by all and have bitter hearts. You're a byproduct of someone's happily ever-after, so naturally, your life has been perfect. Every need you've ever had has been taken care of by your wealth or status. Face it- you don't belong in my class."

Poppy was fuming with rage, but she knew better than to pick a fight with one of the scariest villains of all time. She simply sat back down in her seat.

"Typical princess. They don't even try to defend themselves," Mr. Badwolf chuckled.

Poppy knew better than to pick a fight, yet she allowed herself to whisper "My fairy-godmother, shut the hex up." Except, thanks to a shouting spell Faybelle Thorne had just muttered seconds before, the words she spoke sounded more like, "MY FAIRY-GODMOTHER, SHUT THE HEX UP!"

All heads in the room whipped right towards her. Mr. Badwolf stared down at her with huge, angry eyes, growling loudly. "I'M SO SORRY- I DIDN'T MEAN TO-"

"DETENTION!" Mr. Badwolf yelled.

"It was a shouting spell," Raven started.

"It's not fair," Ginger added.

"Does ANYONE ELSE want a detention?" Mr. Badwolf inquired. Silence. "All right then. Let's move on to this week's project…"


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to the morning's events, Poppy decided to fake a sore throat and skip the rest of her classes. She was still sprawled on her bed listening to classic rock when Holly returned to their dorm.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Holly immediately said when she saw her sister. "I know you're not really ill. You may be able to fake it through hext-messaging, but you're awful at lying in person."

Poppy sighed. "Well…Hey, the shouting spell wore off. _Finally._"

Holly's eyebrows wrinkled up in confusion. "How did that happen?"

After explaining what had happened during her first General Villainy class, Poppy felt the same anger arise in her from before.

"He is the worst, Holly! Like, what the hex, I can take whatever classes I want!"

Pursing her lips, Holly replied, "Are you sure you don't want to take a study ball period or something? Oh, how about another princess class with me! It would be the best!"

The truth was, Poppy hated princess classes. Waiting around instead of taking action stressed her out a lot, and she knew she would never need to know how to be a queen since all the princes at Ever After High were not her type. The only reason why Poppy took Princessology was because Holly insisted they have one class together, and Poppy couldn't stand to have another boring princess class in her schedule. She didn't want to hurt her twin's feelings, though, so she changed the topic.

"Well, General Villainy wouldn't be so bad if Mr. Badwolf just _listened _instead of giving me detention… Oh my Grimm, I have detention _right now_! Badwolf's going to kill me!"

Poppy stuffed her mirror phone and earbuds into her bag before racing out the door, yelling "Hext ya later" to Holly at the same time. Down the stairs- _ugh, why does our dorm have to be the tallest tower in the school? _–across the courtyard, to the dungeon, down more stairs, through the heavy brass door and-

Poppy stood panting in the empty classroom. She then remembered- Mr. Badwolf was rarely on time. This time, the curses she yelled were not made louder by a spell but by her own anger.

"Whoa there, O'Hair."

Poppy turned to find Sparrow standing right behind her in the doorway. Realizing he just saw and heard her little meltdown, Poppy turned as red as her natural hair color.

"When I saw you running by, I tried to stop you, but man! You can _really _run…" Sparrow was also panting heavily from trying to catch up to her. "Anyways, just wanted to tell ya that Badwolf's usually at least fifteen minutes late to detention."

"Of course _you_ would know," Poppy grumbled. Sparrow raised an eyebrow.

"Badwolf's wrong, ya know… you could make a great villain."

Now it was Poppy's turn to raise an eyebrow. "And how so?"

The rebel-rocker grinned. "You've certainly got an attitude for it."

"Whatever-after. I'm going to do thronework until Mr. Badwolf gets here."

Surprisingly, Sparrow left Poppy alone after that. The two barely exchanged glances until Mr. Badwolf finally arrived.

"Ah, what a surprise to see Mr. Hood actually attend a detention."

Poppy glanced over at Sparrow. "Really?"

"Yes; usually we have to get the Headmaster involved to force him to show up…" Mr. Badwolf continued. He carefully looked at the guitarist with confusion. "But enough about that. Your punishment is to scrub all the cauldrons, as Mr. Hood knows we do every Monday." As he was handing out gloves, sponges, and soap, the villainous teacher looked at Sparrow again, questioning.

"What?" Sparrow asked.

Shaking his head, Mr. Badwolf simply replied, "Get to work."

The cauldrons were filled with all sorts of gunk- green slime, unicorn hairs, and the occasional eyeball. The dish soap barely made a dent on the layers caked onto the cauldrons, and even with her earbuds in, Poppy couldn't completely ignore the screeching of the sponge against the grime. _No wonder Sparrow usually skips detention… _

Now that Poppy was on the subject, why hadn't Sparrow missed this session of detention? Perhaps he had something planned, like a revenge scheme… no wonder Mr. Badwolf looked at him warily upon seeing his arrival.

Poppy felt a tap on her shoulder. _Sparrow._

"Whatcha listening to?" the rocker asked while scrubbing at another cauldron.

"Just some oldies… you probably wouldn't recognize them," the princess replied.

Sparrow shrugged. "Try me."

Poppy unplugged her earbuds so her music would be audible through the phone's speakers.

"Is this Spell Story?! Man, I love their songs!" Sparrow began to sing along, occasionally making up little dance moves.

Poppy rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I didn't think your taste in music would be good…"

"Are you kidding me? I, Sparrow Hood, have the best taste in everything, especially music. I can't wait to laugh in Melody's face when I tell her that someone else likes my type of music."

"And why is that?"

"She hates, like, literally everything I recommend to her. Not that _she_ listens to anything good- it's just weird modern "punk" bands and remixes."

As she talked with Sparrow about different bands they both liked, Poppy began to feel better about General Villainy. Raven and Ginger had been willing to stand up for her during class, and now Sparrow seemed less annoying than before; Poppy only had to worry about Lizzie, Duchess, and Faybelle causing her trouble. Of course, it wasn't like she was going to be forced to talk to them, right?

"Okay, you guys are finished for today," Mr. Badwolf told the students, looking up from his Mirror Pad. "And make sure to get together with the rest of the class to work on the play project."

_Fairy Godmother_. Poppy had forgotten- this week's assignment was to present a play on a fairytale and to explain the motives, methods, and overall quality of the villain. The worst part? It was an entire class assignment- meaning that yes, Poppy would be forced to talk to Lizzie, Duchess, and Faybelle.

This was going to be interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

"You're late."

Duchess haughtily stared down at Poppy from her stool at the table. Poppy rolled her eyes and lazily slumped into an empty chair. She didn't _mean _to be rude, but she simply wanted no part in whatever nonsense the General Villainy group was going to plan for their group project. Perhaps she should be glad that she was invited to work on the group project at all, but Poppy was just really tired. It was Saturday morning, and instead of sleeping, she was at Hocus Latte with a bunch of people that hated her.

"Sorry, I didn't want to come." With a groan, Poppy plopped her head down on the table.

Raven and Ginger chuckled at her retort before being cut off by a glare from Faybelle.

"I get that you don't want to be here. Trust me, _I _don't want you to be here either. But seriously? _Sparrow _was here earlier than you. _That's _a sign that you need to get it together."

_Wait, really? _Poppy peeked an eye out from her arms and saw that, yes, the one and only Sparrow Hood, infamous for his love of sleep, was already downing a cup of tea in a chair next to a drowsy Lizzie Hearts.

"What the hex man," Poppy muttered with a smirk. "You're making me look bad."

Sparrow smiled back at her and replied, "Who you? You could never look bad."

Faybelle clapped her hands together twice. "Okay people, enough with the chit chat- let's get to work. The assignment is to act out a famous fairytale with a villain, and to explain three ways in which the character portrays typical villainous qualities."

"Which fairy tale are we choosing?" piped up Ginger.

Faybelle smiled. "I'm sooo glad you asked, Ginger! I had the amazing idea to perform Little Red Riding Hood- "

"HEY!" Duchess honked. "That was MY idea, I was the one who suggested it to you, don't you go on pretending…"

"Chill! Don't get your tights in a twist!" Faybelle responded. "I meant to say that _Duchess and I_ came up with the idea to focus on Little Red Riding Hood so we could suck up to Mr. Badwolf. Agreed?"

Everyone around the table nodded in agreement- anything they could do to get on Mr. Badwolf's good side was a must.

Faybelle glanced around. "Good. On to the next order of business- casting. I've already decided all the parts, so don't you worry. I will be Little Red-"

"Um, what?!" squawked Duchess.

"-Sparrow will be the Big Bad Wolf-"

"No thank you?" Sparrow said.

"-and Lizzie will be the Hunter."

"Huh?" Lizzie mumbled, awaking from her nap.

"Any questions?"

"Uh, hex-cuse me, what about the rest of us?!" asked Raven.

"Yeah, why do you get to be the lead?" Duchess demanded.

"Wait, yeah, why would you be interested in playing someone so… un-evil?" Poppy questioned.

"And I didn't ask to be a participating member of this group! I intended on only doing the bare minimum of work!" Sparrow cried. "Okay, maybe _less _than the bare minimum… but still!"

"Um, Sparrow, you gotta be the wolf, cause you're the only guy?" said Faybelle.

"No one cares about your antiquated gender roles," Lizzie sighed sleepily.

"And I get to be the lead because I said so- and anyone who disagrees will get a hex put on them. Anyway, the rest of you will be background characters- trees, village people, whatever. I don't really care. Just make sure you have a real costume, because the last time we did one of these projects we lost points because our costumes were 'unprofessional'."

The rest of the group erupted into a series of complaining, arguing, and fighting. Raven's voice was the one that finally managed to enunciate over the ruckus, "Hold up- we're missing a character. Who's going to play the grandma?"

Faybelle smirked. "Oh, how could I forget dear old Granny? I reserved that part especially for a dear member of our cast…"

"Is it going to be me? She's going to make it me, isn't she?" Sparrow said.

"Shut up Sparrow, you already have a part," muttered Duchess crossly.

"Oh no… the person who gets to play grandma is…" She smiled so that her pointed teeth were bared.

"…Poppy."


	6. Chapter 6

Poppy had no idea what the hex was going on.

She didn't know why out of all the people the group, she was given one of the larger roles. She didn't know why Faybelle trusted her with such a responsibility, and she _really _didn't know why the dark fairy had pulled her aside from their table in the café to talk to her. All she knew was that something was _definitely _off.

"Poppy, I have a favor to ask of you-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, take my role in this group seriously, memorize your lines, etc…"

"Actually, I don't need you to show up to any rehearsals."

_Wait, what? _Poppy blinked, shaking her head in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah, your role in the play is actually pretty limited- there's no speaking lines, and you spend a lot of time offstage since, ya know, you get eaten."

"But shouldn't I be there? For moral support, or whatever?"

"I'm only requiring a few people to actually meet up and rehearse lines. All I want you to focus on is making sure your costume is the best, most authentic grandma clothes you can get your hands on, okay?"

"What about the presentation? The props? The scenery?"

Faybelle waved her hand. "All taken care of. You're new, so you don't really know what Mr. Badwolf expects from us. I would hate for you to make a tiny mistake that would get you picked on. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor."

"Oh. Um, thank you?"

The fairy sniffed and turned away. "Just be ready for when we present on Thursday." Faybelle walked out of the café, not even lifting a hand to wave goodbye to her or the other General Villainy students.

_Whatever after. If she doesn't need me, then so be it- but I'm going to make sure my costume is a page-ripper._

Poppy walked back to the table where Duchess, Raven, and Ginger were still sitting. Lizzie had left for a croquet match, and Sparrow had wandered off once he saw his merry men outside throwing pebbles at stacked up soda cans.

"What was that about?" questioned Raven, stirring her more sugar into her cup of earl grey tea.

Poppy shrugged. "It was nothing. Just Faybelle being Faybelle."

Raven chuckled. "Yeah, she can be a little much sometimes. I have no idea where I'm supposed to get a professional villager costume from with this little time."

"And _I _have no idea why she would give some _newbie _a larger role than a trained professional," sniffed Duchess, glaring pointedly at Poppy.

"Actually, Faybelle just told me that the grandma role isn't really that big. I don't even have any lines," confessed Poppy.

Duchess raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing the only reason she gave me that role was to make you- I mean, everyone else jealous."

"Hmm…" Duchess pondered, eyes narrowing.

"It is a very 'Faybelle' thing to do," offered Raven.

"You can't just let you push her around! You gotta give it back to her once in a while!" Poppy declared, slamming her fist into her hand.

"But she'll hex us if we try to fight back," Ginger quietly replied.

"Well, then… you turn the other cheek! You comply with her demands to dress as background villagers… but you make yourselves the most crazy, unforgettable ones! Villagers that look so memorable that you just gotta wonder about their own stories!"

Duchess straightened up in her seat, intrigued. Raven quirked an eyebrow with curiosity. Ginger pursed her lips in confusion.

"Um, what do you mean?" the pink haired candy witch asked.

"Okay Ginger, what costumes do you have at home?" Poppy returned.

Ginger scrunched up her face in concentration. "Well… I'm not sure if this counts… but I have my mom's sari somewhere in my closet…"

Poppy snapped her fingers. "Perfect! You can be Little Red's elegant neighbor. You first appear to be an ice queen, but your façade melts once the poor girl is almost eaten, and you are one of the first to hug her and make sure she is okay."

Ginger beamed at this description. "That sounds enchanting!"

"Ooh! Do me next!" squealed Duchess. "I have TONS of costumes at home- ballerina, acrobat, movie star, nurse…"

"Stop right there- you could be the nurse that makes sure Little Red Riding Hood is alright after she escapes from the wolf's stomach!"

"Ah! Perfect! I could say, 'Are you alright, dear? Never in my ten years of nursing experience have I ever witnessed a phenomenon as this, where a precious girl escapes bodily harm from the inside of an animal's digestive track!'"

"Um… yeah! Sounds great!" Poppy replied.

"Alright, I'm curious to see how you could fit me into this story," chuckled Raven. "The only costume I own that still fits me is a jester costume…"

"Well… you could be Little Red Riding Hood's friend… who says hello to her while she's going to the woods?"

"That works for me," Raven chuckled.

"Well, that settles it, then! Everybody has a part!"

"But what if Faybelle disapproves of our changes?" asked Ginger.

"Don't mention it to her- in fact, don't even show her your costumes until the day of the play. By then, it will be too late for her to change anything," said Poppy matter-of-factly.

The trio nodded in agreement, smiling. They thanked Poppy before grabbing their drinks and heading out to enjoy the rest of their weekend.

Poppy grinned. She was making friends that weren't stuck-up, stuffy royals, and she had rebuilt their hope after it had been stomped out by the iron fist of Faybelle. Right then and there, Poppy felt like she mattered.

She was making changes- and who knows, maybe they would last, too.


	7. Chapter 7

"So why exactly are we stalking the head cheerleader of our school again?"

Poppy rolled her eyes at Holly. "We're not _technically…_um, exactly…um… _stalking_ seems a bit harsh, right? More like…following? No, that sounds creepy too." She shook her head in exasperation. "Look, I've been trying to check in with Faybelle about the project, but she keeps missing my calls. Just because I know exactly where and when she likes to get her coffee after cheerhexing practice doesn't make me a stalker, okay? It makes me a… great student?"

Holly squinted and pursed her lips into a sharp line. "How can you be certain that she'll definitely be here? We've been waiting outside Hocus Latte for forever after- she could have stopped in any of these shops- the Glass Slipper, the Crown Emporium, Drapers and Dragons-"

"Isn't that an old lady store? Why on earth would Faybelle spend her free time in there?"

"Well, it's not like _you're _spending your free time any better…"

"Well then, missy, if you're going to be so judgmental, you can stop following me downtown to Village End and asking me for money to go buy a Hocus Pocus Cupcake!"

Holly carefully bit into her cupcake and thoughtfully nodded. "Well, ya got me there."

Poppy took a deep breath. "Okay, so the project is due on Wednesday, and I've already got my costume picked out. All I need to do is verify everything with Faybelle, and then I can cruise through the rest of this course with an easy A."

"Really? That's it?" Holly asked while wiping some crumbs off of her lips. "Cause even in my easiest classes, I feel like there's-"

"Holy hex that's her!" exclaimed Poppy, shoving her hocus latte into her sister's hands before leaping over a bench.

Sure enough, a blue blur had just zipped out of a store and started zig zagging a path down a cobblestone alleyway. Poppy began to sprint at full speed just to get within ear shot of the frantic fairy.

"Faybelle? Faybelle! FAYBELLE!"

"Oh my Grimm, I'm right here. Stop shouting in my ear!" exclaimed a disgruntled Faybelle as she skidded to a stop. She swiveled around to give her pursuer a glare.

"Wooh, so sorry," Poppy heaved out of breath. "I… have my costume picked out…it's right here… I've been trying to contact you…oh MAN! You fly fast..." As she looked Faybelle up and down, Poppy noticed the fairy barely looked tired even though she was hefting around a massive armload of shopping bags overflowing with faded fabrics and creamy caramel sweaters.

"_What_ do you want," the fairy muttered through clenched teeth.

"Ah! Well, I wanted to show you this." Poppy proudly pulled out a cardigan, bonnet, and skirt out of her bag. "See! What do you think? I spent all day-"

"Let me see that," Faybelle retorted before swiping the clothes out of Poppy's arms. She held out each item, squinted sharply, and then sniffed.

"Was that really the best you could do?"

"Um… yes?"

Faybelle's face twisted into a frown. "Well, try harder. When I asked for authentic grandma clothes, I was talking about _actual _grandma clothes. If your outfit doesn't smell like cats, casserole, and crusty old perfume from 14th century France, it's not good enough." She bunched up the clothes into a ball and threw them at Poppy.

"But-"

"Listen. This is your chance to prove to the others that you can run with the villains. _Don't blow it."_

And with that, Faybelle hefted up her _D&amp;D _shopping bags and floated away.

Poppy watched her classmate drift into the wind, and waited until she was completely out of sight before muttering, "_What a beast."_

"You're telling me."

Poppy yelped and turned around to find Sparrow strumming his guitar a few yards away.

"Um, hex-cuse me? Were you eavesdropping? Because… that's not fairy polite, you know!" Poppy remarked angrily, turning red. _How does he always catch me at the absolutely worst times?_

Sparrow shrugged. "I was kind of just wandering the streets when I heard Faybelle yelling at you, and I figured you might need some help or something."

She shrugged off his comment. "I'm fine… but I guess I'm going to need a new costume, since mine wasn't _good enough, _apparently." Poppy turned to walk away, but couldn't help adding, "Faybelle just… can really _suck _sometimes, you know? Ack, I can't stand it, she makes me so…angry!"

Again, Sparrow shrugged. "You'll learn to ignore her like the rest of us do."

Poppy rolled her eyes, but chuckled. "_Thanks."_

Sparrow smiled back, and seemed to debate something in his head. "Eh… if it helps, I know of a thrift shop not far from here… I mean, it's farther in town, so it might take an hour or so to get there… but you could _definitely _find what you're looking for there. And, since we have the day off tomorrow, we could go there together without any time constraints."

Poppy's face brightened up. "You…you would take me there?"

"Yeah? Yeah, how about tomorrow morning? I'll give you my number, and you can hext me when you're ready to go."

"Awesome!" The pair exchanged numbers and parted ways. Just as she was about to round the corner, Poppy paused.

Hey… thanks, Sparrow," she called over her shoulder.

"No problem-o," he called back, lifting a hand in a semi-wave.

Poppy sighed and scrolled through her phone messages and she walked away. She had one unread hext.

HOLLY: _After you catapulted over me to chase after your girlfriend, I kinda got bored and walked home :/ also I drank the rest of your latte_

Well, that was Holly for you. Poppy was lifting up her mirror phone to reply when she felt herself collide with another person.

"Oh my Grimm, I'm so sorry… oh, hey Ginger!"

The candy witch readjusted her round glasses and blinked at Poppy. "Oh, hey Poppy! Haven't seen you around lately!"

"Um, I guess not?" Poppy replied. _It's only been, what, like a day? _"What brings you to Village End?"

"Well, Faybelle sent me on a couple of errands, but I'm having some trouble…she wants this specific brand of paint…" Ginger fiddled around into her dress pocket and pulled out a list, and then showed it to Poppy.

"Hmm… you know, I think I have some of this at home! I could hook you up with some!"

"Really? That would be spelltacular!" Ginger squeaked.

"Well, any way I can help, ya know?"

"Thanks! So that means I'll see you later, right?"

"Well, yeah! Oh, I gotta run back to my dorm- spell you later!"

When Poppy arrived back at her empty dorm room, it was already past dinner time. However, Poppy decided she should not waste time contemplating the rapid passage of time, and instead began digging through her closet again to try to find some old clothes. Even though she and Sparrow were going to the thrift shop tomorrow, Poppy couldn't stand the idea of just sitting idling by when the project was just a few days away and she was still not ready. By the time Holly arrived, Poppy had already buried herself under an enormous pile of clothes.

"What the actual hex, Poppy?" Holly said, maneuvering between piles of clothes and dodging a sweater that whizzed past her ear.

Somewhere from within their shared closet, Poppy called out, "Faybelle rejected the outfit proposal. Needs to be more grandma-y."

"Geez, what time did you come back from Village End? Have you even eaten dinner?" Hollly began to shift through the clothes until she found her sister's buzz-cut head. She gently grabbed Poppy's shoulders.

"Hon, why didn't you come eat with me in the castleteria? Today I sat with Blondie Lockes- and you know she thinks you're the best!"

"I was busy!" Poppy protested. "And… you know Blondie and I don't _really _get along. Like, she's nice, but we don't really click."

Holly pursed her lips and sighed. "Well, you're always welcome to sit with us, you know."

Poppy knew what Hollly was thinking- that Poppy didn't have any friends at Ever After, and that it was starting to affect her. Well, Poppy was just fine, thank you very much. And she didn't have time to worry about dinner and making friends with Holly's princess-y friends when she still had to prepare for Wednesday's project.

As if she read her mind, Holly added, "Look, I'll help you with the costume. Right now, you should worry about eating some food and going to bed. You've had a long day of chasing after Faybelle."

"Okay, it's not what it looks like," Poppy declared. "But yeah, I guess you're right."

"Why don't we go stuff our faces and turn in early tonight. Wanna watch a movie or something?"

Poppy hesitated. Sure, she could wait until tomorrow to go thrift shopping- but she was _so _certain that waiting was the wrong answer. She felt so inadequate- she had to be doing something productive, to prove her worth to Faybelle…

"Poppy." Holly tapped her sister's shoulders. "You deserve a break. Let's go get you a slice of pizza from downstairs."

Poppy nodded. Holly was right- she always was. Around Holly, Poppy didn't have to be perfect, because just existing was good enough for her.


End file.
